As college costs continue to climb, families are turning to federal Parent Plus loans to fill the gap. But with no checks on their ability to repay, many parents are left overburdened, and others set up for failure. More »

Low-income students are being priced out of even public universities — due in part to how schools are using their financial aid. Join higher ed experts Thursday on Reddit to share your thoughts on how to keep college accessible.

Chasing prestige and battered by state funding cuts, many public colleges and universities with a historic responsibility to provide access to an affordable education have turned to "financial aid leveraging," offering wealthy or high-scoring students discounts on tuition.

As we continue reporting on college debt, perspectives from a range of industry professionals are key. If you've worked in admissions/financial aid, consulted with schools on these issues, or work for a lender or servicer, we want to hear from you.

As college costs continue to climb, families are turning to federal Parent Plus loans to fill the gap. But with no checks on their ability to repay, many parents are left overburdened, and others set up for failure.

A little-known legal provision forces the federal government to award contracts to qualifying nonprofit student loan servicers, putting them in charge of managing millions of loans. The shuffle has thus far caused problems for some borrowers.

The Education Department had promised to fundamentally overhaul its broken system for forgiving the loans of former students who've become disabled. Now the department says it can't and won't do it, leaving many disabled applicants stuck in debt.

The Education Department has resisted a basic reform to its troubled disability review that its own ombudsman has recommended since 2008 -- shut the program down entirely and rely on Social Security to decide who is eligible.

Borrowers who become severely disabled are entitled to get federal student loans forgiven. But the program for deciding whether they qualify is opaque, dysfunctional, and according to government reports, redundant.